Favorito de Diciembre del 2006

The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini’s acclaimed first novel is narrated by Amir, who recalls his privileged childhood as the only child of his wealthy, widowed father. Their relationship is strained, though, Amir believes, because his birth resulted in his mother’s death. Also growing up on the property, but in a mud hut on the grounds, are Ali, a servant, and his son, Hassan. They are members of the oppressed ethnic group, Hazaras, while Amir and his father are members of the dominant Pashtuns. One year younger than Amir, Hassan is both his servant and his closest, most loyal companion. It is Amir’s disloyalty to Hassan, on a day that should have been joyous (winning a kite flying competition) which propels this story of guilt, regret and ultimate redemption.

Flight is a central motif in the story. Like kites, families, too, take flight. First, Hassan and his father leave Kabul, because of Amir. Then, six years later, in 1981, it is Amir and his father’s turn to flee Soviet-occupied Kabul. Relocating to Fremont, Calif., they live in considerably reduced circumstances. Amir perseveres, marries and becomes a successful novelist, with a house in San Francisco. His past returns in a phone call from his father’s best friend, now in Pakistan. The friend offers Amir a “way to be good again,” by coming to the aid of Hassan’s son, Sohrab, enslaved by a Taliban official. The story concludes not tied in a neat bow, but through a harder-won reconciliation that bridges the generations.

For On the Same Page, the Library has purchased the 2004 paperback edition of The Kite Runner, published by Riverhead Books. It is also available at the Library in downloadable eBook and large print formats, and as an unabridged talking book in CD and audiocassette formats. It is also available in the following languages: Chinese, Hebrew and Spanish.

About the Author

Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, the oldest of five children. His father was a diplomat and his mother a high school teacher of Farsi and history. When the Soviets occupied Afghanistan, the family was in Paris, where the father worked for the Afghan Embassy. Granted political asylum, the family moved to San Jose in 1980. After graduation from U.C. San Diego School of Medicine, Hosseini became an internist and has been in practice since 1996. Married, with two children, a son and a daughter, he wrote his first novel, The Kite Runner, published in 2003. It became a New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle bestseller and received widespread critical acclaim: San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year, Entertainment Weekly Top 10 Fiction Pick of the Year, American Library Association Notable Book.

The Kite Runner was named the Penguin/Orange “Reading Group Book of the Year” in 2006, chosen by readers in the United Kingdom from among 60 titles. The author is working on his second novel, which will focus on female characters in pre-Taliban Afghanistan.

Of Related Interest

Dialogue with Khaled Hosseini. In Lemar-Aftaab:Afghanmagazine.com. by Azad, Farhad. June 2004.

Official website of Khaled Hosseini - Includes biographical information and an essay, “Following Amir – A trip to Afghanistan in which life imitates art,” published in the August 10, 2003 San Francisco Chronicle.